The weeks-old youngster has been named ‘Julio’, and keepers say he and Lena are doing extremely well.

This is the first infant to be born out of the introduction of Taronga’s male, ‘Chico’, to 12 female Squirrel Monkeys from France, last year, through the regional breeding program.

Primate keeper, Suzie Lemon, says, “Lena and baby are doing amazingly well. A lot of the female Squirrel Monkeys have been interacting with the baby, and our two oldest Squirrel Monkeys, ‘Ayaca’ and ‘Squirius’, have been showing a lot of interest by vocalizing at him and rubbing up against him.”

Julio is developing very quickly. “He has already been seen climbing on ropes by himself with all four legs, with just his tail holding onto mum.

“In the next few weeks we’ll see other females start to carry him around and nanny him a bit, then he’ll slowly start to explore on his own,” said Suzie.

February 27, 2012

A new baby squirrel monkey is now receiving visitors at the Virginia Zoo.

The mother, Marie, delivered sometime late Friday night or early Saturday morning on February 17/18. She was discovered with the baby squirrel monkey clinging to her back Saturday morning by zookeepers. The tiny primate joins its mother, proud papa Jeebes and two other adult females.

"We probably won't name the baby until we know its sex," said zookeeper Aubry Hall, who works with the squirrel monkeys.

Found in the tropical forests of Central and South America, squirrel monkeys spend most of their time in trees and are primarily active during daylight hours. The tiny primates live together in groups of up to 500 males and females. Squirrel monkeys are omnivorous, eating primarily fruits and insects. They live roughly 15 years in the wild, but zoo residents can reach 20 years old.

March 19, 2010

On February 1st, the Edmonton Valley Zoo welcomed a tiny baby squirrel monkey. For the next six to ten weeks, the curious but cautious baby will hitch a ride on its mom's and aunts' backs. Until the baby becomes a bit more independent and starts venturing out on its own, zoo staff cannot be sure whether the little ball of monkey is a boy or girl.

August 21, 2009

Our first entry from Zoo la Boissière du Doré outside of Nantes, France, this little baby Squirrel Monkey clings tightly to mom's back in pictures taken this week. Interestingly Squirrel Monkeys have the largest brain to body mass ratio of any primate at 1:17 (versus 1:35 for a human!).

November 14, 2008

On November 6th, the 6th baby Squirrel monkey of the season was born at the Colchester Zoo. Since October 15th, the zoo has been averaging two new squirrel monkey babies per week! Babies are cared for communally by the females in the group.